board member failure to report patient death

The Texas Penal Code, Section 38.19, has been amended with the passage of SB 826 and now states, "A superintendent or general manager of an institution commits an offense if, as required by article 49.24 or 49.25, Code of Criminal Procedure, the person fails to provide notice of an individual under the care, custody, or control of or residing in the institution, the person fails to submit a report on the death of the individual; or fails to include in the report material facts known or discovered by the person at the time the report was filed."

Full Answer

Do hospitals have to report deaths to the Office of Attorney General?

Senate Bill 1469, effective June 17, 2005, subsequently eliminated the requirement for hospitals to report applicable deaths to the Office of the Attorney General.

Do superintendents have to report deaths in their facilities to the OAG?

The following are the instances in which superintendents and general managers of facilities which report to Medical Examiners must report deaths in their facilities to the OAG pursuant to Article 49.25, Code of Criminal Procedure;

What happens to confidentiality when a patient dies?

One principle that is helpful to remember is that generally, confidentiality survives the death of the patient. In other words, the deceased patient continues to be entitled to confidentiality, and the practitioner is under a continuing duty to protect the confidentiality of the records and information pertaining to the deceased patient.

Do medical facilities need to report falls to the NQF?

States such as Minnesota require licensed healthcare facilities to report falls to the NQF. The importance of reporting falls at medical facilities is seen in the example of Timothy Hellwig.

Is Vanderbilt hospital being investigated?

The hospital is under investigation for not being upfront with the Davison County Medical Examiner about the deadly medication error. The patient was being treated at Vanderbilt for a subdural hematoma, also known as bleeding in the brain, and was suffering from headaches and vision loss.

Did Vanderbilt cover up the medication error?

The 56-page report included staff statements about medical errors and hospital staff conduct that constituted a cover-up. The fatal incident occurred on December 26, 2017. Charlene Murphey, 75-years-old, was mistakenly given the drug vecuronium.

Who completes the medical portion of a death certificate?

The attending physician is responsible for completing the cause-of-death section (item 32). If a pronouncing physician is in- volved, the attending physician plays the role of a certifying physician.

What happens when someone passes away at the hospital?

Once the hospital has made their identifications, you will need a funeral director to complete the death certificate and remove the body from the hospital. Depending on the space available in the hospital morgue, you will typically be allowed anywhere from three days to three weeks to remove the body from the hospital.

Did Vanderbilt nurse go to jail?

No prison time for RaDonda Vaught, former Vanderbilt nurse convicted of fatal drug error | WPLN News.

Did nurses walk out of Vanderbilt?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - Nurses across the country say they are quitting their jobs after RaDonda Vaught was found guilty. A jury found Vaught, a former Vanderbilt University Medical Center nurse, guilty of criminally negligent homicide.

How important is cause of death on death certificate?

Causes of death on the death certificate represent a medical opinion that might vary among individual physicians. In signing the death certificate, the physician, medical examiner, or coroner certifies that, in his/her medical opinion, the individual died from the reported causes of death.

What are the requirements for death certificate?

Death Certificate:Complete name of the deceased person.Date of death.Place of death.Place of death.Complete name and address of the requesting party.Number of copies needed.Purpose of the certification.

Who can declare death?

The cause of death as certified by a doctor is a record of an individual's death information. Being responsible for the clinical diagnosis of the cause of death, the physician plays a critical role in the cause of death certification. The clinical diagnosis by a physician is the basis for certifying the cause of death.

How long can a body stay in the morgue?

A body presents little threat to public health in the first day following the death. However, after 24 hours the body will need some level of embalming. A mortuary will be able to preserve the body for approximately a week. Regardless of the embalming, decomposition will begin after one week.

What happens when someone dies at home unexpectedly?

Get a legal pronouncement of death But if your relative died at home, especially if it was unexpected, you'll need to get a medical professional to declare her dead. To do this, call 911 soon after she passes and have her transported to an emergency room where she can be declared dead and moved to a funeral home.

How long after someone dies is the viewing?

A wake (sometimes referred to as a viewing or visitation) will usually happen within a week of death. So this answer is very similar to that of the question “How long after death is the funeral?” The wake itself typically takes place the evening before the funeral.

Did RaDonda report the med error?

In the RaDonda Vaught case, her hospital reported that the patient died of natural causes instead of notifying federal regulators of the medication error as required by law.

How did Vaught get the wrong medication?

When Vaught could not find Versed in an automatic drug dispensing cabinet, she used an override and accidentally grabbed vecuronium instead. An expert witness for the state argued that Vaught violated the standard of care expected of nurses.

What drug did the Vanderbilt nurse give?

vecuroniumVaught, 39, was found guilty last week in the 2017 death of Charlene Murphy. Murphy was a patient at Nashville's Vanderbilt University Medical Center when Vaughn inadvertently injected Murphy with a deadly dose of the paralyzing drug vecuronium.

How did Vaught give the wrong medication?

Vaught's attorney argued his client made an honest mistake and faulted the mechanized medication dispensing system at the hospital where she worked. The prosecution maintained, however, that she “overlooked many obvious signs that she'd withdrawn the wrong drug” and failed to monitor her patient after the injection.

How long does it take for a dentist to report a death?

The death of a dental patient which may have occurred as a consequence of the receipt of dental services from the reporting dentist must be reported within 72 hours of the death, or such time as the dentist becomes aware or reasonably should have become aware of the death;

How long does it take to report a dental hospitalization?

The hospitalization of a dental patient, as a possible consequence of receiving dental services from the reporting dentist, must be reported within 30 days of the hospitalization or such time as the dentist becomes aware of or reasonably should have become aware of the hospitalization.

Who has the duty to report a patient's hospitalization or death to the Tsbde?

A dentist has the duty to report a patient’s hospitalization or death to the TSBDE and to produce a detailed accounting of those reports.

What is Chapter 264 Family Code?

if the person dies without having been attended by a physician; if the person dies in a hospital or other institution and an attending physician is unable to certify the cause of death; or. if the person is a child younger than six years of age and an inquest is required by Chapter 264, Family Code. If a death occurs in a facility pursuant ...

How long does it take to report a death to the OAG?

SB 826, by creating a new Article 49.24, Code of Criminal Procedure, mandates that notification of such a person's death must be made to the OAG within 24 hours of the person's death. Furthermore, it mandates that the facility prepare and submit to the office of the Attorney General, a report containing all facts relevant to the individual's death within 72 hours of the death. Procedures are in place to have affected facilities report the required information by fax or email.

What is an attending physician in Texas?

An "attending physician" is defined by the Texas Administrative Code (Title 40, Part 1, Chapter 19, Sub-chapter B, Section 19.101) as, "A physician, currently licensed by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners, who is designated by the resident or responsible party as having primary responsibility for the treatment and care of the resident." Often, a facility resident will designate the facility's medical director as their attending physician. In other instances the patient will designate their own personal physician as their "attending physician."

What is the new section of 49.25?

The new subsection "c" of Article 49.25 requires that superintendents/general managers report to the Office of the Attorney General, any deaths (and must also submit a report with facts of the death) in instances in which the death is reportable under Section 6 (a) of Article 49.25, Code of Criminal Procedure, entitled "Death Investigations.". ...

What is Senate Bill 826?

Senate Bill 826, which affects two articles of the code of criminal procedure (49.24 and 49.25) and one section of the penal code (38.19), is a means of having the same information from Article 49.04, plus an investigative report conducted by the facility, communicated to the OAG. This will allow for a faster investigative response on the part ...

What does 501.055 mean?

if the person dies in prison under circumstances other than those described by Section 501.055 (b), Government Code, or in jail; if the body of the person is found and the cause or circumstances of death are unknown; whether the body is identified or not; if the circumstances of the death indicate the death may have been caused by unlawful means;

When did SB 826 become effective?

Res­i­dent Death Reporting. Senate Bill 826 (SB 826), which became effective on September 1, 2003, was designed to promote the timely reporting of certain deaths to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). The OAG will receive reports of deaths of individuals under the care, custody, or control of or residing in nursing ...

What are the different types of falls?

In most medical settings, falls are categorized as: 1 Accidental Falls: These are falls that happen among patients who have very low risk of falling, but they fall because of the environment they are in. They may fall out of bed or slip on a wet floor. 2 Anticipated Physiological Falls: These are the most frequent types of falls. They’re usually caused by an underlying condition affecting the patient. A patient may have a problem walking, their gait may be abnormal, they may be battling with dementia, or they may be on medication that is affecting their balance or their perception. 3 Unanticipated Physiological Falls: These are falls with patients who appear to be low risk for falls, however, they suffer a unexpected negative event. They may faint, they may have a seizure, or they may have a heart attack or a stroke. 4 Behavioral Falls: These are falls that happen because a patient becomes unruly or acts out for one reason or another. These includes instances where patients fall on purpose.

Why are hospitals required to record falls?

Hospitals are required by law to create a safe environment for their patients and family members visiting the hospital facilities. If a patient slips and falls, most hospitals and nursing homes require their staff to document the fall and notify family members or caregivers. The mechanism for recording and reporting a patient fall will vary ...

What states require licensed healthcare facilities to report falls to the NQF?

The National Quality Forum includes falls that result in death or serious injury as reportable events. States such as Minnesota require licensed healthcare facilities to report falls to the NQF.

What percentage of hospitalized patients fall?

Research shows that up to 50 percent of hospitalized individuals run the risk of falling. Of those who do fall, 50 percent suffer injury. The injuries sustained from hospital falls range ...

How old was the nursing home resident when she fell?

According to reports, a 93-year-old resident fell at the hospital. The nursing home aides assisted her, but no accident reports were written. A few days later, it was noticed that the 93-year-old nursing home resident had extensive bruising on her body. She was taken to the hospital and a few days later died.

Why do medical providers break the standard of care?

In these cases, a medical provider may have broken or violated the appropriate standard of care, because they failed to address conditions that led to a fall or failed to take the necessary precautions to prevent a fall from occurring.

Where is a fall report sent?

Once the patient has been evaluated and once the report has been compiled, it is generally sent to the hospital’s or the nursing home’s risk management department. The circumstances surrounding the fall are reviewed with the goal of determining what could prevent something like that from happening again. In most cases, medical professionals are ...

Why did the nurse not notify the ICU practitioner?

The nurse noted the results in the health record, but did not notify the ICU practitioner because he assumed the practitioner was returning to the unit to reassess the patient. The patient’s blood pressure two hours after the second unit of plasma was reported as 63/21 mmHG. The nurse notified the on-call resident of the blood pressure and ...

How long after stat order was blood available?

The blood bank records indicated that the blood was available 20 minutes after the stat order was received. One hour later, the ICU nurse had not received the blood and noticed the oncoming shift had arrived. He gave the oncoming nurse report regarding the patient and even though both nurses were concerned that the blood had not arrived ...

How old was the patient when she had twins?

The patient was a 38-year-old female admitted for a Cesarean delivery of twins. The babies were delivered without incident, but the patient experienced excessive post-operative vaginal bleeding attributed to placental accreta.

What is risk management in healthcare?

Risk management is an integral part of a healthcare professional’s standard business practice. Risk management activities include identifying and evaluating risks, followed by implementing the most advantageous methods of reducing or eliminating these risks.

Is CNA a trademark?

All products and services may not be available in all states and may be subject to change without notice. CNA is a registered trademark of CNA Financial Corporation. Copyright © 2017 CNA.